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COLUMBIA, Mo. — While the most dominant part of Missouri’s offense through the first five games of the 2025 season has been its ground game, something positive is brewing in the Tigers’ receiving hierarchy.

Needing to retool with a new quarterback and a fairly different-looking receiving corps, Mizzou’s passing attack has leaned into efficiency and getting the ball to its best playmakers. The result: a distribution of targets that looks more similar to the program’s 2023 breakout season than last year’s relative letdown.

Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday. Scroll past the chat window for an easier-to-read transcript.

Transcript

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Through the first five weeks of the college football season, something has become clear with Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy: He’s an impactful runner.

Like a pinball ricocheting off a flipper and back upfield. Or like a variation of Newton’s first law of motion, except Hardy’s inertia is more durable than most, and he stays in motion despite the external forces acting upon him.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Chew on some crackers, swig some water. It’s time for a blind quarterback tasting.

The names of these two quarterbacks will be revealed shortly, and if you watched ESPN’s “College GameDay� on Saturday, you might have seen this exercise already. But try to set aside quarterback names for half a minute and sample these stats from the first bit of the college football season.

Another nonconference win, another week of stalling before the meat of the 2025 schedule arrives.

Missouri (5-0, 1-0) beat Massachusetts 42-6 on Saturday, winning solidly if a bit sleepily in its homecoming game. As always, the Post-Dispatch is looking back at the game through Pro Football Focus' array of grades and advanced stats.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri football added a recruiting win to its 5-0 start to the season, flipping a commitment from another Southeastern Conference program to its growing 2026 class.

Micah Nickerson, a defensive end who'd been committed to Mississippi State, changed his verbal pledge to the Tigers on Sunday. Nickerson visited MU last weekend.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Can a room of quarterbacks be like a baseball starting pitcher and bullpen? Let Missouri’s signal-callers and their Saturday night usage be Exhibit A.

Beau Pribula was the starter, logging a quality start — almost three quarters, however that can be transposed into innings for metaphor’s sake — with only a few pitches left dangling over the plate. Matt Zollers was the setup man, hardly seen as he held on for a series. Tommy Lock was the surprising closer, finishing out the fourth to fulfill an opportunity the MU coaching staff felt he earned.